


Labyrinthine

by Freihet



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Gen, Knights being actual knights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-06-06 12:52:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6754624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freihet/pseuds/Freihet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Labyrinthine (lab(ə)ˈrinTHin): like a labyrinth; irregular and twisting.]</p><p>He lost his house and his pride as a Suou heir. As a last request, his father trusted him in the hand of the kingdom's renowned emperor. Little does he know that he would meet a row of knights. Not to mention an eccentric group of one.</p><p>Tsukasa Suou, still young at the age of 17, beginning to learn that life is not a fairytale weaved with silk.</p><p>"A familiar disguise, be wary of friends and foes, young one. For they are not what they seems to be."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reassembling life

A red-haired young man, stands in front of a grand gate with a piece of letter on his hand.Two suitcase beside him, all tidy and packed, waiting for their owner to pick them up. The young man straightens his coat and dusts off any speck of visible dust and dirt. Spring has just started, but the wind has been crazy since three days ago. He tightens his grip on a bag that hold his precious bow, slung over his shoulder. He says a silent prayer as if his bow is his lucky charm.

“This is it. No going back,” he muttered under his breath.

He admits, he feels extremely nervous. After all, the man he is going to meet is not an ordinary one. Or at least that is what his father said, before leaving him with this letter and run away to who knows where. Up until three month ago, he was sleeping on a comfy bed, going here and there to attend family business with his parents. His father was a well-known man, being the head of the famed Suou family that owned the best textiles industry. Everyone knows the work of Suou’s industry, as it has run in the family for over twenty years. Just two month ago, his father fell into a serious debt after a big fire burned down his factory. Moreover, his dearest mother fell ill. No doctor was able to cure whatever disease she caught.No amount of money would suffice for her recovery. Distressed and frustated, his father’s drinking habit got worse, piling off their debts. He remembered how his father always got drunk and cried with his mother’s portrait in his tight embrace. Mumbling about being cursed by the gods, he begged for her to stay with him.

Selling everything to survive, including their mansion, they were able to pay off all debts. However, his father has another thought and ran away to severe his connection with his son. After all of the scandals, they couldn’t keep their Suou title up. Now, basically homeless, he is entrusted to a close friend of his father. Just a while ago, he just knew that his father’s so-called friend is in fact, the emperor himself. The one and only Eichi Tenshouin,who rules this very beloved kingdom. He is known to be wise and sophisticated, also loved by his folks. If he could be honest, he does feel a slight envy,as he grew up in an environment that lacks of love. But on the other side, there is a feeling of admiration somewhere in his little heart. Born on the brink of death, Eichi still manages to proof that he is worthy to be an emperor, not like what his dead father-the previous emperor implanted onto him for more than eighteen years.

As he gazed into the the infamous colossal castle within his view, a serious looking man with a pair glasses resting on the bridge of his nose walked to his direction. The young man stood still on his position, he doesn’t even dare to open his mouth as the mysterious man wearing a perfectly tidy uniform approaches him.

“You, young man. State your business.”

The man spoke with such a hostility in his voice. He pushed his glasses back to its place with his gloved index finger, waiting for the unnamed visitor in front of him to answer. It tooks around three seconds for the red-haired young man to gather up his courage and speak without stuttering. He clears his throat. “I’m here to fulfill my father’s request.My father has sent a letter to Eichi Tenshouin to take me in. He does stated that this particular Eichi Tenshouin lives here, am i right?”

After he gave his best answer, the glasses man seems to be thinking, his eyebrows knitting in concentration. Not long after that, his expression softened. His hand opened the closed gate, just enough for him to slide in with his suitcases. “You must be Tsukasa Suou that Eichi-sama talks about lately. My name is Keito Hasumi, his personal adviser,” he introduced himself and bent down to pick Tsukasa’s suitcases, eventhough the ex-young master insisted that he could carry it by himself. He holds onto his bow tightly as Keito guided him through a long hallway with chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. His eyes couldn't help but wander around, getting failiar with the atmosphere.

Tsukasa’s amethyst orbs widened in awe when he landed his attention to the training field that can be seen from one of the window. It’s not as crowded as he thought, but it can give Tsukasa some entertainment. A silver haired man just ended a short match with graceful flicks and thrusts of his rapier. As his opponent lies on the ground from being defeated, the knight bowed down just like a dancer, with such charisma. The graceful man held out his fully gloved hand to his sparring opponent, then he pulled him up.

“Such a gentle man,” Tsukasa mumbled quietly. His mind is telling him to move forward since he has an important business to take care of. He tried to drift his gaze away. He really tried.

He would have been moving forward, if a certain bright haired young man hadn’t caught his attention.

The orange haired knight chose two of his partners as his opponents. He whipped out his blade from its sheath, making his ponytail swayed in a motion. One of his opponent readied his spear and the other flexed his shoulder. They got into a stance, a perfect balanced stance according to Tsukasa’s knowledge, while the single knight just stand there with a cocky wide grin, swinging his blade idly. Both of his foes decided to attack at once.

The red-haired young man was so sure that the cocky male would fall down with one strike. Much to his surprise, the orange haired man dodged it with ease by jumping up to the blonde’s shoulder. Granted with light feet, he leaped away from both of them, finally using his weapon to attack the man with spear. His opponent, didn’t even let his guard down as he twirled his spear along with his body to counter his attack. The other opponent with raven hair, charged to the man with a blade with his dagger. With that dagger, of course the raven haired male wins in term of agility, or how it should be.With a swift motion, the cocky knight jumped to his back and kicked him down. Quickly, he used his cape to blind his other foe and get rid of his spear with a kick to his hand.

Tsukasa eyes widen in awe, if you look close enough you could see sparkles in his amethyst orbs. He was amazed, especially on how the knight can handle two of his sparring opponents in a short time. He was too absorbed, until he forgot Keito’s existence, who has been standing beside him all of the time. The serious man cleared his throat, snapping the young visitor out of his trance. Tsukasa quickly covered his mouth which has been open for around three minutes.

“You were that amazed?” Keito asked as they continues their walk. Tsukasa nods, slightly embarrassed because he managed to leave a bad impression on his first day. Oh, what a way to start a new life. He felt his face grew redder and warmer each second, how he wish he could just pass out here and wake up in front of that gate, starting all over again.

“Ah, so you have seen the knights, am i correct?”

A soft voice broke through the awkward silence, getting their attention to a sickly thin figure in their view. Thin golden locks sway to the side as he walked closer. He is dressed in a messy tunic that reach his knees paired with a long crumpled pants. He clearly just woke up, judging from his clothes and how his eyes are not fully opened yet. A thick blanket is draped over his shoulder, keeping the cold wind from getting to him. His eyelids are somehow red, with a pair of thick red eye bags accompanying them.

Keito panicked a bit, “Eichi-sama! You shouldn’t be walking around,not with your current condition!” He is trying his best to keep his composure in front of the newcomer, but he failed horribly when the blond man let out a series of coughs. He ran to the man’s side and soothed his coughs by rubbing his back in a circle motion.

“Ugh, what did i say about getting some rest until you feel better?” Keito groaned and rubbed his temple. Despite of his seemingly distasteful expression and way of talking, there was no venom in his words. The blond man whom he called “Eichi-sama” waved his hand, trying to dismiss the moss haired man’s worries. He laughed lightly, raspy breaths can be heard through it. "Please drop the 'Eichi-sama', Keito-kun. We are childhood friends." Keito only reply with rejection, stating that he is "emperor's servant", therefore he should address him as so. Eichi’s eyes lit up once he landed his gaze on the young visitor.

“Oh, you must be Tsukasa Suou! Your red hair says it out loud! You really look like Mrs. Suou..”

The red haired young man’s face slightly darkened upon the mention of his late mother. His grip on the bow tightened and his hand reached up to fiddle with a piece of his hair. His cherry red hair is not common among the society, and his mother is well known by her beautiful flowing red locks. Every time someone mention his red hair, his mind couldn’t help but wander to the distant memory of his mother.

His gloomy expression was easily read by Eichi, and he quickly apologize by bowing, dropping his blanket at the process. “I shouldn’t mention it. I deeply apologize.”

Tsukasa shook his head, panicking. Seeing the emperor in front of him is already overwhelming, moreover if he is currently bowing down to you. Luckily, Eichi raised up his head or else he would die from the awkward situation.

Keito led both of them to the castle’s dining room, which is not that far away from their current position. Tsukasa was told to wait by the table, while Keito and Eichi preparing themselves. He could hear Keito’s long lecture followed by the emperor’s soft laugh echoing through the hallway.

Fiddling with the hem of his clothes, he sat down on a chair and wait patiently. Tsukasa’s hand reached for one of his bag, then pull out an old book. His mouth unconsciously hummed to kill some time. It’s a familiar tune that came out of his mouth, a simple lullaby often sung by his late mother to him. The song itself felt like a faded memory, as he couldn’t remember the lyrics. The only thing he recalled is the fact that the lullaby tells a story.

” Commoners used to tell stories through songs, “ his mother told him, “so it would be easy to memorize even for a child.”

There he goes, recalling a memory from his dear mother. He opened his book to distract his mind and continued where he left off, taking off the bookmark between the pages. His amethyst orbs scanned through the writing carefully, completely absorbed in the story. As he was getting into the good part, a footstep noise distract him from his reading activity. No, not one but five footsteps are coming to the room. Two of them are the emperor and his personal adviser, all dressed neatly and prepared. Eichi fixed his cravat, then dust off his white coat. He sat down on the biggest chair, being helped by Keito. He whispered a short gratitude toward Keito, then send him off. The bespectacled man pulled a chair beside Eichi and sat himself down.

Three men entered the royal dining room, chatting with each other as they walked in. The silver haired man sat across of Tsukasa with his arms crossed across his chest, leaning back to his seat. The blonde and raven haired man followed immediately, pulling out a chair—well two chairs for the blonde since the other male looks sluggish and sleepier than a sloth.

He carefully placed his comrade on the seat, then he rest himself on the seat with an elegant motion.

“What are you looking at?”

His head snapped back to see the silver haired man glaring at him with his cold blue eyes. His brows furrowed and the edge of his mouth were pulled to form a scowl. Tsukasa unconsciously averted his eyes to the other way, feeling intimidated and somehow, irritated. He wasn’t even staring and that man scolded him rudely. The young man really hopes that someone would invent a time machine soon, so he could take back his words about him. He has the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh loudly, but he surpressed it to keep up his good image. Well, a little bit broken but still good. If he could, he would love to have a big bowl of chocolate ice cream to ease himself down.

The man with purple eyes slapped the rude knight, “Don’t be that rude to the new kid, Izumi-chan! Seriously you need to soften up to people a bit— ”

His sentence stopped when he heard a loud bang from the man beside him. The sluggish knight is nowhere to be found, because he has fallen of from his chair and slumped on the floor.

“Ah! Come on, Ritsu-chan! Get up from the floor!” As the sleeping man was being pulled up, he opened his mouth. “..I think i have used too much energy today..,” he sluggishly mumbled. The words came out really unclear, it sounds more like a slur than anything.

They started to eat up their breakfast quietly after that commotion. Tsukasa was lost in his thought while chewing a piece of bread. Honestly, the food doesn’t even feel that appetizing to him anymore, even though his stomach keep rumbling in protest. Everything is confusing, and he swears he would vomit sooner or later from the nausea and nervousness sitting on the bottom of his gut. Meeting the emperor, destroying his image in front of a royal adviser, got scolded for nothing. Such a recipe for beginning a new life. He feels overwhelmed by the sudden change of atmosphere.

He was about to stop eating when he saw a figure dashing through the room and crashed to the wall. Tsukasa winced at the horrible crashing sound, but everyone is still eating their bread and soup, acting like it was a normal morning in the castle. Except for Izumi who rolled his eyes and Eichi who let out a small laugh.

“The andromeda has set and the sun has rise! Good morning! Tsukinaga Leo has finally arrived!”

Izumi let out an exasperated groan and put his palm over his face, while the man with a girly voice replied to his odd greeting. The hyperactive man put out a peace sign while grinning wildly like an idiot. "Don't be that bitter, Sena! It's still ten in the morning! Or isn't it? Wait, let me guess!"

Eichi patted a chair beside him, signaling the orange haired knight to sit beside him. He quickly sat down and chowed down his breakfast. He chewed on his bread like some wild animal, eating with almost no table manner aside from a simple “thank you for the food”. He stood up after devouring his food, all clean except for his face. And his portion of table is covered with bread crumbs.

Eichi smiled. “Are you going to visit Ruka-tan again, Tsukinaga-kun?” The Tsukinaga man answered with a quick nod. He wiped his face with his hand and dashed off.The rest of the knights bid him farewell . “Don’t go and get lost again, okay? Oh, and send my regards to Ruka-chan!” the blonde shouted to the running orange haired man. In less than five seconds he is gone like a wind.

Everybody just normally went back to their previous activity.

 _‘Such a man with no manner. I kind of regretted my admiration..,'_ the youngest man grumbled inside of his thought.

Tsukasa doesn’t even touch his bowl of soup. He let the steam waft across his face and bring the heat with it. Even after the knights of Eichi finished their breakfast, he is still looking down at the surface of the table. The knights left the royal dining room with a simple gratitude for the food. Keito was about to scold Tsukasa about discipline and table manners, when the emperor shushed him.

“Tsukasa-kun, you need to eat your breakfast. You need a lot of energy after all.”

The bespectacled man looked at Eichi with a questioning look. Eichi stared back at his adviser’s eyes, convincing him of his “choice”. The red haired young man raised his head after a long train of thoughts, snapping him back to reality. He averted his gaze to a simple case with bow and arrow in it. “I see that you have a bow with you. Could it be that you know archery?”

“Yes, i have learnt archery since i was ten. Both of my parents are skillful archers, even if they don’t seem like it. And this is the heirloom of my family, from my mother to be exact. It’s my—“

“Don’t need to state the unnecessary things,” Keito cut him off, raising his glasses to the bridge of his nose with his index finger. “Tsukasa Suou?”

“..Yes?”

“Would you like to join the kingdom’s knights?”


	2. Test of Strength

Tsukasa has changed his shirt and black blazer to a set of his traditional Japanese training clothes. He straighten his dark blue _hakama_ once again, checking if it is tied just right on his waist. His family somehow had an affinity towards Japanese art of archery, even though their style of archery can’t be called authentic. On his hand, his bow rest. He tightened the leather glove that wraps his palm and two of his fingers.

He glanced at his bow once again. Ivory white with some blue accents and gold lining, he remembers every nook and cranny as the way it is. His mother’s heirloom really stands out against his dull gloves and plain clothing. If his parents were there with him, he would definitely question their choice of style.

“You may start, Suou,” Keito’s voice rang through the air.

In his view, three shooting targets lined up with different height and distance. He observed them closely, gazing at his surrounding with such focus. Or more like, a serious facade he is desperately trying to keep up. Because, it was clear from his tightly closed lips and furrowed eyebrows that he is extremely nervous. Especially, with the sharp-eyed kingdom’s adviser and his master staring at you. Eichi has an unindentified smile plastered on his face, with a hand on his chin and the other hand supporting his elbow.

Keito cleared his throat and raised up his glasses for the third time today. The scowl painted on his face seems to loudly scream that wasting time is not his choice of game.

“Tsukasa Suou, are you going to start soon?”

“Yes, y-yes! R-right away!”

Tsukasa couldn’t help but stuttered horribly. He is used to high expectations and attention from his superior, but the young man, of course is not familiar with all of the scolding. Amethyst orbs darting back and forth, from the targets to his bow. His gloved fingers twitched slightly from the tension. Blowing a long breath he unconsciously hold from his nostrils, he raised his weapon and got his arrow fixed on the mounting of the bow.

Bowstring pulled to align with his eyes, he squinted a bit, amethyst eyes glaring at his “prey”. The emperor’s smile has changed into a straight line, taken aback by the sudden change of atmosphere. A minute ago, the young man in front of him was trembling and fidgetting. His body is now straight, eyes showing no sign of hesitation as he released the arrow.

A loud thud was heard from a radius of fifty meters, followed by another arrow flying straight towards the second target. Tsukasa readied his third arrow, releasing it with less tension than before, resulting in a more fluid movement.  Three targets were shot down efortlessly in thirty seconds. Just before the adviser could stop him, he mounted his fourth arrow. As soon as it’s released, it disappear to the deep bushes, with a loud clank heard afterward.

Keito doesn’t let any word out of his throat, completely puzzled by the newbie’s action. Tsukasa let down his bow and released a sigh he has been holding for a minute, again.

“Tsukasa Suou, what did-”

“Okay, stop right there.”

A series of claps echoed from the back of Eichi. All three of them turned their head simultaneously to the sight of emperor’s knights walking from behind, dark blue cape swaying with each step. Leading the group is the blonde knight he saw this morning, while the raven haired man is being carried by the scowling knight who keeps muttering under his breath.

The blonde walked to Tsukasa’s direction with hands on his hips. Tsukasa looked up to meet with a pair of darker amethyst orbs almost identical to his eyes. His figure towering over the heir of Suou, casting a shadow on him. His gloved hand moved to touch Tsukasa’s chin, his fingers propped it up and turned his face side to side, as if he was inspecting every part of it.

“Ah! You are even cuter up close!”

The blonde knights suddenly pulled him into an embrace, rocking him from left to right, just like how an older sister hugged her baby brother. A familiar blossom scent, probably lavender, filled his nostril right at the moment when his face was pressed into the white coat of his soon-to-be senior. Tsukasa could totally see Keito’s glasses sliding down in a metaphorically and how the silver haired knight twitched his eyes in annoyance.

“Naru-kun is back with it again,” he groaned, pinching his nose bridge.

“You should recruit him to be the part of Knights, you know! He is a real talent!” exclaimed the blonde knight while ruffling the younger’s head, resulting in messy mop of red hair. “Ah, by the way my name is Arashi Narukami! You could call me Arashi, or even Big Sis! I would be delighted to have such a cute junior like you in our place!”

“K-knights?”  the young man with scarlet hair tried to talk but with an arm around his neck, it seems to be impossible. Not to mention that this man has the power of a deadly bear inside what seems to be a delicate body.

Eichi just laughed lightly at their antics, covering his mouth with his right hand, “Well, Knights is just a short way to call my personal chevaliers. Beside,  saying ‘emperor’s knights’ is kind of mouthful,” he added, “he is right, you have the necessary potential for it. I think it would be really nice to have you in the group.”

Tsukasa’s eyes light up, as well as his face. He could feel a blush creeping to his face. Being praised by the emperor himself, it was a rare chance, or even an “once in a lifetime” chance. He has to stop himself from jumping up and down in glee.

The raven haired knight opened his eyes, revealing a pair of piercing, crimson eyes. He yawned and was about to go back to sleep before he got dropped by the other knights comically.

“Mmh..You see, nobody has ever hit nor discover that one target we put behind the bush as our test target. We have tried to put a tiny bell on it but nobody would acknowledge the lone target, except for you, Suu-chan.”

“Suu-chan?”

He sluggishly yawned and walked over to the new “knight”. “Your name, it’s Tsukasa Suou, right?”

He simply nodded with lips pursed. The raven haired knight hummed for a while, piercing red eyes observing Tsukasa from head to toe. He smirked a bit, showing his unusually sharp canines. “Well, he is not that bad. I would be happy have a new warm pillow.”

“Uh, if you have that kind of target, does that mean there is another archer in Knights?”

Three of them went silent, hands on their chin. The only sound present was a loud yawn of the languid knight, maybe it’s the fifth time today. The blue eyed one decided to speak up for them, after receiving a signal of agreement from his two friends. “Well, kind of. He is a prodigy archer, but to be honest he is just a genius in using every weapon they have to offer him,” he shook his head, silver locks swaying with the motion.

“Kind of?”

“Yeah, he used to hold a bow. However it seems that sword and melee fight are more interesting to him. He took up swordmanship just a year ago, but look at him now, all playful and agile. I warned you though-“

Too late. The moment he looked down, a pair of sparkling amethyst orbs stared back at him filled with wonder. He sweared he could see stars in those shiny iris. He was even more puccled when his new junior grabbed his hands in a hopeful manner.

“Please! Take me to him! Whoever it is, take me to him!”

 He averted his eyes to his sleepy friend who just looked back at him and shrugged with a playful smile. He sighed in defeat, hand ruffling his messy silver hair in frustration.

“Are you even sure about your decision?”

“Yes!”

“Don’t you think about any consequence you might get from knowing him?”

“I have thought about it thoroughly!” he blurted out in a steady tone. It’s pretty much true, if daydreaming for about two seconds can be considered as thinking thoroughly.

“Just take Tsukasa-chan to him, Izumi-chan. I’m pretty sure he can handle it,” Arashi commented, earning a glare from him.

 Izumi let out a long sigh, again, before averting his eyes to Tsukasa. “Fine, i’ll do what you want. But, don’t go back and complain about what you have seen, okay? Because i’m not Naru-kun, who would accept you with open arms and comfort a naive brat like you.”

The youngest received a flick on his head from his grumpy senior. Rubbing his red forehead, he once again daydreamed about his future and days spent with training. While he was being bombarded with warm greetings and pats on his thick hair, he smiled gleefully, knowing that he is finally someone more than “a rich brat”. And to achieve that, he would meet any consequences Izumi stated before.

 

 

Anything, except for a certain orange-haired man child whom they called “Leader” and “prodigy”, who is currently scribbling on their room’s floor.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a really long time to write between finals and school works. Now that i finally got a holiday, it would be much easier for me to update this story! This chapter is super hard to rite, especially the scene at the beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fanfiction i've ever posted here, and my first in Ensemble Stars fandom. I have so much fun writing this AU, and i'm happy if you enjoy reading it too!
> 
> English is not my first language, but i take the plunge anyway. I'm so sorry if there are grammar mistakes here and there. I'm trying to improve my english, so i would be glad to receive feedbacks!
> 
> (Also i love Knights so much, they're a big happy family)


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